Day 1-3

Just posting to let all you wonderful people know we have arrived in the Middle East, are where we need to be, and that things are going great! (minus the jetlag, that is). The trip took roughly 14 hours from start to finish, I got to see the London airport (what a tease), and we got all 40 pieces of baggage in Abu Dhabi (which, as I'm sure you must realize, is, like, amazing).

We settled in on base around 10pm (2pm Syracuse time, now referred to as 'st'), grabbed some food (because we were starving.. forgot to mention to the airplane that we have vegetarians and vegans on board, since a travel agent set it all up all I'd eaten was pretty much bread and juice and snack mix), and then got to bed. Sure enough, 3.5 hours later I'm wide awake and it's 3:30am. But somehow I managed to think were only 7 hours ahead, and are meeting with our host at 7:30am for breakfast so I got up at what I thought was 7, now turning out to be 6. Oh well, that's why I'm updating.

We have a full day of being de-briefed, being shown around, and doing some things I'm way stoked on telling you all about after we do them because I'm not really sure I know what it is we're doing (but I do know we're chasing down a plane on a runway in a Camero going like 100mph). We have a show at 8pm tonight (noon st) and another possibly at 1am (5pm st), though we'll see if we can handle that. With a two-hour set that would mean that once again I am up 24 hours straight, and well, me no likey.

Alright, it's about a quarter to seven here, really balmy (and I hate using that word so know I mean business about it) as I sit outside and watch the sun shoot a mean glare into my computer screen, so I'm going to get going. I'll update when I can, it's looking like we're leaving this base for Dubai tomorrow but we have solid internet here so hopefully I will be able to post some pictures before I leave.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

I can't believe that tomorrow is the date we fly out and start the tour. It feels like months of preparation and hard work (oh yeah, it has been), and a ton of stressing out about paperwork and visas and passports and sound guys and equipment, and finally it is all over. So long as we get all our baggage checked (all 40 pieces), and it all arrives with us to Abu Dhabi, we'll be set.

Thanks to everyone for the well-wishes, we'll be at the airport tomorrow at 5:30am and we'll be arriving at Abu Dhabi at 7:50 tomorrow evening... I think that'll be somewhere around 11:50 tomorrow night.

Hopefully we'll have internet while we're there so I can update this thing with some video and pictures. See you all on the flip side of the world!

One Week...

It's hard to believe that we're leaving a week from tomorrow. The past few weeks have been very hectic, trying to sort through all the (literal) baggage, the flights, the show, etc. We are now even a bit more nervous after getting paperwork about the dress code. Looks like I'll be losing my nose ring (hopefully it won't heal up and I can put it in every night), and I'll need to grab myself a sweatband to cover my tattoo (women aren't allowed to have them in that part of the country). I'll also need to do some shopping, because it appears as though I will only be able to wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts (hopefully it will be different on the bases because it's going to be very hot still).

Other than all that I'm trying to start packing and cleaning and getting myself psyched on going over there. It's very easy to let all the craziness of traveling to the Middle East get to you and overshadow the great honor and privilege we have been given. It's sneaking up, so I'm hoping these next few days I can chill out :) I went to Rochester yesterday/today to get away with Michael and eat good food and watch movies and meet up with friends. All of which I did, all of which was awesome.

As for this week, tomorrow holds a flu shot for this girl, band practice 12-5, and a meeting at 7pm. Tuesday Michael heads up and starts rehearsing with us (he's in DC for a job interview!!) and Taryn (Jess' sister, going with us as our tour manager) comes up, and so from then until the end of the week our days will be filled with prepping. Going away party Saturday, the band (I missed the boat on this one) will be heading to NYC to see Sunny Day Real Estate on Sunday, and then Monday... well, you know.

Radio Interview and Show Tonight

I will have to post on the past week once I get some time to settle down, because it has been pretty nonstop this week. With rehearsals every day lasting about 5 hours and studio time on top of it some days, it's been a pretty exhausting week but we are all very excited about it all.

Tonight we will be interviewed on 570 WSYR's Jim Reith radio show at 5:06pm (the show runs pretty on point, so tune in then!!) for some chatting with Jim about the tour and cd, and we will be doing an acoustic in-studio performance live on air.

Immediately following that we will be headed to the Lost Horizon for our Bon Voyage Party/Show. We go on around 10pm, there are bands before/after (I love how they do that there... who wants to see a headliner play at 1am?! They're thinking about the earlybirds, like myself. And I suppose Aaron, because I don't think he could stay awake long enough to play a set then). It's all ages, 7 bucks, and there is a bar. So come on out, say hello, and listen to some great music!!

Time to escape for a few days

Welp, it's been great doing music every day for the past couple of days... but it's definitely time that I take a lil breaky-break. Pre-tour stress is getting to all of us, and trying to manage all of the equipment and excess baggage is quite a hefty chunk of the crazy. We're all getting really excited about Asia, and all of the songs are coming together quite nicely. I've spent a few days in the studio and I put together the strings for our newest song tonight.

But alas, I'm off to Brooklyn tomorrow until Tuesday morning. I need some time away with a good book and some sudoku puzzles. I'm staying with my friends out there and I intend on going to a barbeque, gallery showing, and having sweet hangouts.

Until then, I'll continue going crazier by the hour. I swear if it weren't for my dad and Jess helping out this tour wouldn't be happening; I am eternally grateful for my father stepping in as the 'home base tour manager' as he knows far more about sound equipment than I do, and I do not know what we'd be doing without his help. Er, wait... I do. I'd probably still be in Syracuse for all of October.

Tour Schedule!

Oh, and I've forgotten to mention that we got the tentative schedule for the SW Asia tour. I'm not entirely sure where we'll be playing in any of these countries (and all the dates may change between now and then), but as I find out I'll be sure to post. If you have any friends/loved ones stationed out there send us a message if they may make it; we'd love to meet them.

Sept. 28: Depart
Sept. 29: UAE
Sept. 30: UAE
Oct. 1: UAE
Oct. 2: UAE
Oct. 3: Dijibouti
Oct. 4: Dijibouti
Oct. 5: Bahrain
Oct. 6: Bahrain
Oct. 7: Bahrain
Oct. 8: Bahrain
Oct. 9: Bahrain
Oct. 10: Bahrain
Oct. 11: Bahrain
Oct. 12: Qatar
Oct. 13: Qatar
Oct. 14: Qatar
Oct. 15: Qatar
Oct. 16: Qatar
Oct. 17: Kuwait
Oct. 18: Kuwait
Oct. 19: Kuwait
Oct. 20: Saudi Arabia
Oct. 21: Saudi Arabia
Oct. 22: Saudi Arabia
Oct. 23: Return

Photo Shoot and Studio

(Here's a shot from the last shoot we did with Paul- a little preview if you will of what's to come :) )

We wrapped the album artwork photoshoot last night after another evening with Paul Williams. After the last shoot that we did with him a few weeks back we tweaked previous shots to get what we think is pretty rad artwork; front cover, back, and some et ceteras.

(Speaking of etc's... we played dress-up the dress mannequin.)

Matt, our webmaster, continued filming the shoot for a documentary he is creating on the entire experience surrounding our lives through this album to when we leave for SW Asia (from which Leena and I will continue with little Sanyo video cameras we bought for tour... I'll make sure to post everything I can if we get some internet while over there here, on our official site, and on our youtube page). But anyways, I'm pretty sure that his blooper reel will be longer than the actual documentary... we laughed, we (laughed until we) cried, we drank and got crazy... ask anyone who's had the opportunity to work with us, we're a special bunch. Mr. Big became involved. His music, that is. Their music, that is.

For some reason, the weather in Syracuse has been real weird lately. It feels borderline fall some days. Yesterday was one of those days. While dressed in formalwear, 50 degree weather can be a bit chilling, and although we got there around 3 the shoot didn't actually start happening until closer to 10. But, we treked through it. I played air guitar on my sister's leg. Paul captured that moment, among many others that I feel we will need to share with all of you at a future date. Overall it was a real success, and I'm very excited to start working on the artwork concept and layout, which I'll hopefully be putting together while overseas (having something to do that doesn't necessarily require internet will definitely be a good thing).

Today we're in the studio, and will be for the next couple of weeks. Our goal is to knock out as much work on the album as physically possible so that we have as little work to do once we return from Asia. E is recording some drums, Aaron will hopefully be putting some bass tracks down (he's the only one with a stricter day job for the next week and a half), and then the rest of us will come in whenever we have some free time during the days to put our parts down before our evening rehearsals.

As per usual, the facebook phenomenon 'Farmville' is capturing far more time from our band than is appropriate, causing us to break in practices so that people can harvest their crops. I didn't want to get involved as I've been trying to stay away from my computer as much as possible lately (to boost the productivity of other things in my life, and lately I've been wanting to read more), but they twisted my arm and now I'm stuck managing a farm on top of everything else... the responsibilities just keep on racking up.

Welp, I think that's enough dry humor for the day, I realized I didn't take any pictures from the shoot yesterday but I do have a behind-the-scenes one from last time that my sister grabbed on her phone of me doing my individual portrait. Hello, sassy knife-thrower:

(Can I tell you how scary it is to be known for being clumsy and having a knife that can cut a piece of paper in your hand while wearing 4-inch heels on a palette? Brought new meaning to the word 'dangerous')

Syracuse Show

Hey guys, I just thought I would post the flyer for our upcoming show at the Lost Horizon on September 18th. It's our going-away show, and it's all ages, so if you can make it we'd surely all love to see you there!!

And P.S.

I don't know why my blogs have been so long lately... I'm going to work on getting some more pictures in them. :)

Lazy/Productive is the way to be

As I have explained in my previous post, this week is pretty much just dedicated to music. And I really couldn't be happier. My solo album has kind of stayed in the background for such a long time that I really didn't think I'd even get around to recording it until November or December, and yet here I am, procrastinating on getting dressed so that I can meet Kiel at the studio to record the drums for it!!

It's definitely taken a turn for the productive when I realized/remembered that he's leaving for LA on Friday morning. Super bummed because he's been a friend for a while, and someone who I've seen grow a lot as a person for as long as I've known him. I'm really looking forward to working with him again before he leaves.

The one thing about a solo album that I guess I didn't really think about until now is that... all the decisions are mine and mine alone. As awesome as that seems in theory, I never really realized all the choices that need to be made. There's no one else in this band but me, so there is no bass player, no drummer, no guitar player... and there may not be if I deem it what I want. It's all so confusing, I'm taking inspiration in the instrumentation from Rocky Votolato, Ben Gibbard's solo stuff, Good Old War, The Weepies, and Ingrid Michaelson in terms of figuring out what will sound good. Hopefully that'll all fall into place organically.

There's also the artwork portion of it. I'm thinking about doing some sort of mixed-media thing for it, but that's going to be a TON of work (though I'm kind of excited about it). There isn't going to be the whole jewel-case thing with inserts and stuff, I think I'm just going to package it all in a cardboard sleeve and put all the lyrics and etc stuff on the website (There will be an extension from The Scarlet Ending's website for mine and my sister's solo pages). So basically, I just have to come up with the design for the front and back of the cd, and the website. Still a lot of work, but pumped. Paul will be taking some test shots for it while he's here to do the 2nd half of the TSE photo shoot this weekend.

So much work to do, getting a brain ache from taking notes on all these songs! I'll update you as the progress of this album, tentatively titled "Burrower" comes along.